Love For All
by Wicked'456
Summary: Love can be a very... unsettling experience when you're a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena. DISCLAIMER- DO NOT OWN PJO, RICK RIORDAN DOES.
1. Chapter 1

"A—a—achoo!"

"Whoa, Silena, pick up a tissue!" Connor Stoll scolded.

Silena Beauregard glared at him. "Why don't you lay off?" She plucked a tissue from its box on the side table in the Rec room, where we were gathered for a meeting. "Our whole cabin's been like this for days!" She blew her nose and threw the tissue in the garbage.

Annabeth nudged me. "Why do you think all the Aphrodite campers are sick?" she whispered. "Percy? Percy? Percy!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry", I apologized.

"Percy, what is it?" Annabeth asked, concerned.

Oh, no. This is when I usually play the: I'm-totally-fine-what-are-you-talking-about-card. "Nothing, Annabeth", I assured with a laugh.

She didn't seem to buy it. "Really? 'Cause you would tell me, right?"

Well, she had me there.

"Is it the prophecy?" Silence.

"Seriously, it's nothing." I smiled a fake smile.

Annabeth still didn't look assured, but that was when (thankfully) Chiron entered, and we all took our seats around the big table with our pads in front of us, swiveling around in our chairs. I mean, who would give around 9 ADHD kids swivel chairs? It's like an accident waiting to happen, and it's rather distracting to the meeting.

"Meeting called to order—!"

Chiron was interrupted at Silena's loud cough that lasted a good fifteen seconds. "Sorry", she finished when she was done.

"— To discuss the abnormal behavior of the Aphrodite campers", Chiron finished.

"Chiron, we're just—ACHOO! Sick", Silena reasoned. Everyone swiveled away from her.

"I'm not catching whatever she has!" Connor whispered. "We have exams coming up." He and his brother exchanged a glance and they both burst with laughter.

"You may just be sick", Chiron concluded, "but, the whole cabin has it! And no one else around camp seems to be catching it, either. The question is what's causing it?"

"Well, maybe it has to do with love", Katie Gardner reasoned. "I mean, their mom's the goddess of magic, right? So maybe one of the camper's—oh, I don't know—_unsettling_ love made them sick?"

"You… may be on to something", Chiron said with a finger pointed at Katie.

"It—cough—makes sense", Silena agreed. "I thought I was feeling some off relationships lately that are enough to make _me _sick."

"Love making someone sick?" Annabeth asked, incredulous. "How can _love _make you sick?" She snorted out loud.

Silena glared. "Well, why not? It makes sense. And I thought your mom was the goddess of wisdom. If someone you knew wasn't all too smart, wouldn't _you _feel sick?" she challenged.

Annabeth stared at me. "I've handled it."

"Hey!" I shouted.

Silena started coughing like mad. "Wait! I think I've found the source. Annabeth, Percy, keep talking." Silena rubbed her red eyes with a tissue.

"Um… hey?" I started. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Silena, what are you up to?"

"I'm sure of it now. Chiron—it _is_ the love! Two people in this room are famous for not admitting their undying love for each other. It's making the whole cabin sick!"

"Which two?" I asked.

Silena rolled her eyes. "Wow, you really are dense. You and Annabeth, silly!"

**Hehe, yep, I'm ending it there for now, until around five people review. **

**I'm going to try writing a story, and I will try to stay committed. Usually when I write a story, I lose interest and don't finish it. Maybe now I'll stay more committed since I have an audience that (hopefully) wants more from me. I got one review on my other story 'Raindrops on Roses' , a Percy Jackson story, and was thrilled and inspired to write even more. So keep those reviews comin'!**

**Wicked : ]**


	2. Code 409

"Haha, you know, err, we're not really—we're just—friends, ya know?"

That's what Annabeth and I said all day throughout the camp. Every five seconds— "hey, it's Poseidon's kid! Think he'll go for that Athena girl?"

The Aphrodite cabin got even worse with us denying our 'love'. All they do is grab tissues angrily while they glare at us, like it's our fault they feel like they're on their death bed. I groaned and sat down at the Poseidon table for lunch, not feeling quite hungry.

Why Annabeth and I? I mean, we were best friends. Dating would be weird. Right? I mean, what happened on Mount St. Helens was obviously a mistake. Why would Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, kiss me? It was just a spur of the moment thing. Like, ADHD? Yep, that had to be it. Annabeth wasn't the type of girl to just… kiss you and admit her love for you.

I was Poseidon's kid. I was a mistake. She wouldn't want to go out with a mistake, would she? And a daughter of Athena, no less. Talk about World War III. Athena would have a fit and incinerate me—wait, why was I thinking like that? You two are obviously not going to get together. No way. Just friends.

This reassuring didn't go so well. It just made me think more and more about our friendship over the last couple of months. Annabeth had been helping me sword fight for the upcoming war. She'd been teaching me Greek every Monday morning. We went to the campfires together. I've been noticing how grey her eyes are and how she wears owl earrings every day. I've noticed how long her blonde hair has gotten over the years. She uses a bit of makeup now.

But these were normal things to notice, right? When you're with her half the time, it's hard _not _to notice them.

I snuck a glance at Annabeth's table. She was surrounded by some little kids, and she was trying to feed a small baby. Her hair kind of glistened in the sun. Her smile was nice.

I shook my head and raised my eyebrows. Where's your manliness, Jackson?

Gone, with everything else I've got.

It was around three thirty in the afternoon when word had gotten around about a plan the Aphrodite cabin had mapped out for us.

I, being Percy Jackson, had absolutely no clue what was going on. Annabeth, on the other hand, being Annabeth, looked slightly sick.

Annabeth and I were standing over to the opening of the sword arena, an awkward distance between us. "So…" I started, "what do you think is going on?"

Annabeth barely answered me, just stared at the floor looking like she was calculating a math expression. "Huh?" she asked after a few moments. "Oh. Err, I have an idea—"

"Hello lovely couple of the hour—ACHOO! Geez, we'd better get this plan going, huh?" Silena popped her head around the corner of the door with a tissue box.

"Silena, you're late", I said, feeling quite stupid and angsty, as I had no idea what was going on. "What's happening? What plan?"

"Code 409, of course!" she answered, and sneezed once more into her tissue.

"Silena, what exactly is Code 409?" Annabeth asked, hand on her hip.

The daughter of Aphrodite chuckled. "The plan where you two get together. You know, the perfect match. Seriously, that little Athena-Poseidon rivalry? It's so _Romeo and Juliet, _I'm going to cry!"

Annabeth and I snuck glances at each other and blushed, flustered. "What do you mean?" I muttered.

"Gods, help me." Silena shook her head. "You two become fake boyfriend and girlfriend." Annabeth was about to object when Silena interrupted, "Just for a little while until Aphrodite is settled and the cold goes away!"

"Aphrodite did this?" I asked, incredulous.

"Of course." Silena looked at me like was I was totally oblivious. "She desperately wants you two together. So she's making it hard on us so we get you two to go out!"

"Making it hard on _you?"_ I muttered. Annabeth glared at me, and I cowered back a bit. "For how long?" I asked.

"Maybe, like, a week, tops. I just want to be back at the mall! Chiron won't let us leave until we feel better, and he maxed out all our credit cards, so we can't even shop online", Silena explained. "Horrid!"

"It's a nightmare", Annabeth murmured. I smirked. I saw she looked at me and did the same from the corner of my eye.

"So, when do we start and how do we start?" Annabeth asked aloud. Silena nodded and pulled out a glittery purple notebook and feathered pen. She flipped the cover open: "Step one: hold hands. Step two: smile and glance romantically at each other. Step three: small little kiss. And there we go." She flipped it closed. "Done, easy as that."

"Sure, sounds reasonable—excuse me, a KISS?"

"Just… just a small one", Silena said in a little voice. "On… on the lips. Just for like two seconds! And you owe the whole Aphrodite cabin! We've been sick for days!"

"Cheek or no deal", Annabeth challenged. I knew better than to join in with the deal between them, and I didn't say anything. I would mess it up for sure, and Annabeth would hit me into oblivion.

"Fine", Silena pouted. "But let's get this going! Chop, chop! A-A-ACHOO!"

I wiped away remnants of her sneeze from my camp shirt. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Silena regained her posture and her face remained indignant. "Hold hands", she ordered. We clasped hands. "March!" And we filed out of the sword arena, my hands clammy as ever.


	3. Chapter 3 Teaser

Sneak peak at Chapter 3:

"Step one: accomplished!" Silena gushed. "Step two: romantic evening, coming up!"

I nearly spit out my juice. "WHAT?"

Annabeth's mouth opened and closed like a fish. I'd never seen her so flabbergasted in the three years I'd know her.

"But—you— I—we—you set us up!"

**And there we are. This is just a small teaser from chapter three since I'm not sure if I can publish another chapter in the early morning. Thanks for sticking with me, guys! I'll try to publish another chapter later in the day of tomorrow.**

**Wicked : ] **


	4. The Set Up

"Oh my gods! The Aphrodite cabin went through with their plan? Aw, they're so adorable!"

Annabeth slammed her fist down on the table, scaring away the Apollo kids. I stared at her. "Uh, Annabeth…"

She sighed. "They're just so annoying. It's just a fake relationship! It's not the beginning of the world or something!"

A part of my heart broke inside, though I don't know why. I felt like mush when she said 'fake relationship.' Was… was I really that bad a person to go out with? Or was it just alien to her that I was her best friend that was pretending to be her boyfriend?

"Oh, yeah", I agreed faintly. "It's um... annoying." I averted my eyes. Why was I feeling like this? It wasn't a big deal. Just a stupid fake relationship, like Annabeth had said.

I began to feel a bit moody, and I ended up lashing out on Annabeth.

"Let's go to the fire to give sacrifice to the gods", she offered, standing up.

"Wait", I hissed. "They didn't even call us yet. Sit down", I ordered a bit harshly. When I saw her hurt face, my heart immediately softened and I felt like a big jerk. "I—I mean—"

"Whatever, Seaweed Brain", she said, and averted her eyes this time. My heart leaped at 'Seaweed Brain', which never usually happened. Why was it starting now?

It was silent at the Poseidon table. Chiron had heard about the plan, and because it helped the Aphrodite cabin, he agreed to let us do activities and sit together during meals. I let out a big breath I was holding in for whatever reason and looked sideways at Annabeth. A blonde curtain of hair was covering her face.

"Err…" I began. "Sorry", I said quietly. Annabeth looked up. "Me—me too", she agreed.

"What did _you _do?" I asked, confused.

She sighed. I knew she hated admitting when she was wrong. "I've been acting moody about this whole 'fake boyfriend/girlfriend thing.' I don't know why it's bothering me so much. Maybe… maybe because I don't like change", she muttered.

"What? What do you mean, 'change'?"

"N—never mind", Annabeth said quickly, and stood up. "I—I have to go… back to my cabin."

And she ran off, leaving me alone at table number three.

The next time I saw Annabeth, she was fighting in the sword arena. She was alone, and lashing out at some dummy. If you looked closely, you could see tears fall from her eyes and run down her face. Finally, she dropped to the floor in a bundle of tears, her arms hugging her knees. She stayed frozen like that for two minutes before I stepped in.

She must have sensed I was there, because she didn't jump when an arm appeared slung around her neck and hugging her. She smelled like vanilla.

I held her until she started sniffling and she took her head out of her knees and looked at me with bloodshot eyes and a tear stricken face. I moved a piece of blonde hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly. I didn't know what else to do. I never actually took part in a make-your-best-friend-that's-a-girl-stop-crying scenario, so I went with what they did in the movies.

Annabeth sniffled again and nodded while rubbing her red eyes. "I'm sorry", she said. Her voice was small, but became stronger with every word. "I don't usually do this. But I have to let emotion out sometimes, right?" By the time she reached her last word, she was sounding like she always did.

I helped her stand. "It's good to release emotions that are bottled up sometimes. But you can't always cry. You have to face whatever they are."

"Don't you understand? Crying is the only thing I can do. It's not like I can just get him back."

My eyebrows crinkled "_Him?"_

Annabeth looked at me, confused. "Yes. Him. You know I mean Luke, right?"

I felt like the word was spinning around me, and those words were just engraved on my coffin. _Luke. _She only cared about Luke. The traitor. Why would she still have feelings for him when he abandoned her? It didn't make him the most popular person.

A better question, why did I care so much?

I just stood there like a fish with my mouth open and Annabeth looking at me like I was psycho, when we were interrupted by a certain daughter of Aphrodite.

The first thing I heard was the slow clapping. "Very good", Silena applauded. "Very good. Well, you got 'jealous scenario' right out of the way with that last one! Step one: accomplished. Step two: romantic evening, coming up!"

I felt like a complete idiot. Was Selena really standing there telling me I'd been set up by her? And Annabeth, just to make it worse? I turned to Annabeth to scold her or ask her what the Tartarus was going on when I saw her expression.

Annabeth's mouth open and closed like a fish. I'd never seen her so flabbergasted in the three years I'd known her.

"But—you—I—we—you set us up!"


	5. 4 We Get An Explanation, Sort Of

Three words: What. The. Tartarus.

Silena pouted and leaned against the doorframe. "Maybe. I wouldn't call it a _set up. _It makes me sound terribly devious. I don't deserve all that, do I?"

Annabeth fumed with anger. "I can't believe it! You're exactly like Aphrodite!"

I stepped in. "Someone tell me what's going on, please?"

Annabeth rolled her grey eyes. "Now's not the time, Seaweed Brain! Silena here set us up! She gave us fake instructions that were harmless and converted them to these… these _monstrosities._ It's terrible!"

"If I recall, I did not promise you that those steps wouldn't vary", Silena compromised. "I just said those were the steps. I didn't say they had to stay that way."

Annabeth made a sound that sounded very close to a rabid animal. "Like mother like daughter, huh? Well listen here you—"

"Okay!" I broke in. I have never seen Annabeth as mad at someone like now, and I didn't want it to continue.

"I mean, how could you tamper with my feelings like that?" Annabeth continued, and I felt a knife go through my heart. "They were _my _feelings that weren't meant to be let out!"

"OKAY!" I yelled. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "Okay", I repeated, calm. "Silena, what is _really _going on?"

The daughter of Aphrodite rolled her blue eyes. "So, we're not _totally _sick anymore—" she blew her nose and didn't sneeze to make her point—"but we still need you two to go out because Aphrodite won't be too settled until you're together for a longer time. Anyway, we wanted you two to _really _go out and show your real love for each other while undergoing this plan, and step one was completed. Now just a romantic evening is needed, and a small kiss, and you two are good to go!" Silena flipped her notebook open and wrote a check next to step one.

"Um—excuse me, true… love?" I repeated, feeling numb. Annabeth stiffened from beside me, but softened after a few seconds. "Yeah, what's with that?" she asked.

"Oh, come on!" Silena waved her hand away at us. "You two will go down in history. Daughter of Athena", she pointed to Annabeth, "son of Poseidon", she gestured to me, "is the cutest thing _ever._ And you two have been best friends since, like, forever! It's obvious that you two are legit in love. The glares, the smiles, the nicknames—those are _adorable!" _she sang. "Ah", Silena sighed, "you two are just perfect. And not admitting it either? You guys are at the top of my list."

Annabeth looked down and away at opposite sides. We didn't look at each other. It was awkward enough. I mean, getting told by the Goddess of Love's daughter that you and your best friend are the perfect match and the trendiest couple since Romeo and Juliet, it was pretty nerve wracking.

"Well—well what if we choose not to go by your steps and just…" I avoided using the term 'break up', "end it?"

"Well", Silena started, "my brothers and sisters and I have come to an agreement that you cannot do that, or face the consequences of a hard love life, promised to us by our mother."

Well, we're definitely screwed.

Annabeth started stuttering, "But—but you can't do that! I'll—I'll tell Chiron! So—"

Silena shook her head and cut her off. "'So' nothing. Aphrodite will still make your love life hard."

Annabeth sighed in frustration and I became lost in a flashback. Aphrodite telling me she was going to make my life hard in the love department just because she liked me.

Well here was her promise showing up to me on a silver platter.

I heard the daughters of Aphrodite squeal as they held Annabeth hostage in their cabin while doing her makeup and clothes for later.

She was probably steaming mad at me, but she got her revenge.

Offering that Aphrodite's sons come and fix _me _up for later tonight.

Yep, I lost that battle.

So the Aphrodite boys came to my cabin since I had no siblings. They brought like five different colored tuxedos, six different colored ties in case I 'wanted to change ties during the dinner', a jumbo size box of tissues for themselves, and four pairs of different shades of black shoes. How there could be different shades of black, don't ask me. They were the ones that had experience in the fashion department.

They made me try different tuxedos on with the correct color tie. I came out in my fourth one, the green one.

"Turn", ordered Brian, making a circular motion with his finger, and laid it back on his chin thoughtfully as I did what he asked.

He looked over at his companions, who had just finished hacking up a storm. If this were contagious and not just for Aphrodite's kids, I would have kicked them out faster than you can say 'I'm not sick'. They made a face and shook their heads simultaneously for what felt like the millionth time and sent me back in the bathroom inside Cabin 3.

I looked to see what color they gave me, and was actually satisfied. I smiled for what felt like the first time in a while. I willingly put on the blue tuxedo this time and stepped out.

Brian gave a small smile with his colleagues before ordering me to turn again, and I didn't hesitate to. After a minute with his brothers watching carefully and him still looking thoughtfully, I hopefully said, "Yes?"

Brian stood in the same stance for another second before saying, "Yes."

I smiled and the others cheered and celebrated the task they had just accomplished. Declan smiled and hit me on the back, "This date will go perfectly now that you have the right suit. Wear the blue tie, then change halfway in to the green tie. It'll bring out your eyes more. Wear the darkest shade of black shoes. The Aphrodite cabin paid for your dinner reservations for _A La Riviero _in Manhattan for seven thirty. Don't— achoo!— be late."

My heart fluttered and I got nervous butterflies when he said 'date', but I smiled nonetheless and thanked the whole cabin of boys for helping me pick an outfit. When they left, I made a mental note to bring extra clothes to change when I got to the restaurant.

I sighed and lay down on my bunk. It was a quarter to five, my alarm clock graciously told me, and time to leave soon. The girls said that Annabeth would be ready about five so we could leave and get to the city on time.

I decided to think about what was going on. I was going on a date. With my best friend, Annabeth Chase. Nope, absolutely nothing weird about that.

Would this change our friendship? I didn't know if I wanted it to or not. If it didn't change, that meant a happy friendship. If it did, that meant a happy relationship. Either way, I was sure there were going to be obstacles in our way. If we stayed friends, we might struggle to become boyfriend and girlfriend. If we had a relationship, it may be going too fast and things will start crumble and crack.

To make things worse and more confusing, the Great Prophecy was supposed to go underway in two months or so. I was going to go back home in two weeks to spend time with my family before that. I'm sure _that _would have a great effect in this too.

I decided not to think about my situation any longer. I shouldn't even be thinking about relationships. We were only fifteen. We had such a long way ahead of us. I was going to enjoy this night, forced or not, because we were best friends.

I listened to the gurgling my fountain gave me. It soothed every nerve and muscle in my body. I looked over at the clock and saw it was four fifty-five. I got up, straightened my tux, messed up my hair, sprayed on some cologne, and slipped my 'man purse' on my shoulder. I was really glad the Aphrodite boys had decided to leave me with it. It was a great place to hide my change of clothes.

I sighed at myself in the mirror and was about to go open the door to walk to the Aphrodite cabin and pick up my date, but there was a knock at my cabin door.

It seemed that my date wanted to pick _me _up.

**Wow, I love this chapter. It's kind of long, which is good. I always worry about length, which is a factor if people want to read stories. If the chapter is too short and not all good, there's a good chance not many people will read it. I always make sure my chapters are at least one thousand words or above (like this chapter), unless I'm having a terrible writing day and do a little less. Please review this chapter, and wait for more, because you're in for some real Percabeth in the next chapter.**

**Thanks and keep reading,**

**Wicked : ]**


	6. Chapter 5

I never thought I would even think this out loud in my thoughts, but Annabeth looked seriously hot.

No, really. Her strapless blue dress and black flats looked so great on her. Her blonde hair was even more curly and her gray eyes, well, shone.

Annabeth took one look at me and made a face. "You look better than me."

I was going to ask how that was possible when we both blushed from the realization of what she said.

"You know, I mean… they put me in a stupid dress." She looked down at her own outfit. Then she leaned into me and my breath hitched in my throat, "But I have clothes to change in my purse that I stole from my cabin. I told them I left my owl earrings in there." She leaned back and smiled crookedly at me, and I did the same.

We stood awkwardly, and I wondered if I should have let her in.

"You know, the guy usually picks up the girl", I told her to break the ice.

Annabeth chuckled. "Well you aren't one to follow the rules, am I right?"

I took a look at the horizon and saw it was getting darker and closer to after five. "We had better get going if we want to make it. The guys harassed me about being late."

Annabeth giggled; something that sounded kind of alien on her. But I shook it off. There would be a lot of firsts tonight.

We walked, hand in hand, past awestruck campers and sneezing Aphrodite's. We didn't care what people said, if we were cute or not. We were friends going out to dinner, holding hands. What was so wrong with that? Not too romantic. Besides, I've realized we've known each other long enough to accept any romantic things that come. These things happen.

Let's just hope Aphrodite doesn't totally screw me over.

We took Argus out of Long Island, then caught two trains to the city and took another to get to the restaurant. We got off the train not looking totally ridiculous like we thought. There were people going home from dinner or work with dresses and tuxes.

The walk to the restaurant was kind of awkward, but only because of our attires and where we were about to go and why. We occasionally talked or laughed or would call each other their nicknames. Annabeth burst out laughing at a joke I taught and slapped my arm, calling me a Seaweed Brain. I smiled. These were the times I missed, when she wasn't worrying about Luke or the war or was on Daedalus' laptop. I was beginning to have second thoughts about how awkward and terrible this dinner would turn out to be.

We arrived at the restaurant, already pumped and no awkwardness between us. Together, we walked up to the podium where the person who was to take the name of our reservation stood. Most people in the restaurant were chatting in loud tones and bellowed with laughter. They were wearing somewhat laid back items of clothing, some people dressed in suits or dresses for special occasions, so we didn't look funny.

"Jackson", I told the man, and he smiled, marked our name with a 'check', and got a waiter to guide us to a table.

The Italian waiter pulled out the chairs for us and offered us to sit down. Obviously, we obliged, and he poured water and scurried away to the kitchen to get whatever we needed.

"Excuse me", Annabeth muttered to me, winked, and stood up, carrying her bag with her. I smiled and said, "Sure." She left with her clothes to make a quick change.

I sat there awkwardly waiting for her to come back so, I, too could change. I looked around the restaurant so I didn't look like a total idiot sitting by myself. My eyes scanned the right of the restaurant where I saw a couple of teenage boys who were wearing leather jackets and baggy jeans sat. A waiter stood over them, looking like he was scolding them.

"I'm sorry, sirs, but you cannot just barge in without a reservation. Those clothes are utterly out of proper attire for this restaurant." One of the boys, I guess the leader, rolled his eyes. He had blonde hair that was in one hot mess all over his face and blue eyes. His freckles looked like splattered orange paint on against his somewhat pale complexion. The rest just followed his lead:

"Of course we would, sir", the leader said respectfully. He looked around at his buddies. "But we're awfully hungry, and this is the only place we could find within walking distance. We have money." He flipped what appeared to be his mommy's credit card in his hand. The waiter didn't look satisfied, but proceeded to the kitchen to serve them anyway.

I continued to watch them, only because they were the only decent and entertaining thing to watch in the restaurant anyway. I watched as the boy, maybe eighteen, laughed and goofed around with his friends. The leader suddenly stopped short and his eyes widened at a sight coming from behind me. I turned around, wondering what he could have been looking at, and my face turned red with anger.

He was looking at Annabeth.

She was wearing skinny jeans and a grey tank top and black cardigan.

And some dude was staring at her.

My fists clenched together. I partly didn't know why. Part of me said that Annabeth was my best friend and we looked out for one another, and that included guys checking her out.

Another part was sort of jealousy. The feeling came back when I was afraid Annabeth would choose Luke over me. My fatal flaw, probably? I didn't want Annabeth going with Luke and getting hurt. That had to be the cause of my jealousy. And this guy was checking her out, wanting her only for her looks. She would get hurt because of that, too, so it _had _to bemy fatal flaw. That was the only answer, right?

Two things I knew of at that moment:

My feelings were being totally messed with.

Fatal flaws seemed like a lame excuse, and it just didn't feel that way.

**Hehe, hey guys. :s **

**Sorry I took so long! **

… **I think. Did I take long? YOU tell ME, along with a review of this chapter! I've been feeling Percy's been a little crazy going back and forth with these feelings of 'she's my friend' and 'she's my love' changing every five seconds. I seriously hope I'm not doing that a lot.**

**Thanks for your great reviews! I'm getting plenty of people adding my story to their favorites and alerts, but not many reviews. I want at least twenty before I post the next chapter! **

**Thanks so much for your support so far,**

**Wicked : ]**

**P.S. I know I said there would be major Percabeth, but there will Percabeth in the next chapter! I think I have an idea of what could happen, but I don't know if it'll look good typed, so I have to try it! But I think you'll love the idea and there'll be a cliffhanger!**


	7. Chapter 6 Blackmail

My fists clenched. I couldn't grasp the fact that Annabeth was being looked at by another guy.

Annabeth came and sat back down at our table. "Hey", she said cheerfully. "Your turn."

I was still watching the guy. He had finally turned his gaze from her to me. He gave me a cold, hard stare and I returned it. Annabeth followed my eyes to him. "What's going on?"

I finally turned away from him. "Okay." I stood up and grabbed my bag, starting for the bathroom. The teen decided to be wise and followed me.

I cursed under my breath. I entered the door to the bathroom and it was about to swing closed, but the stranger stepped in. "Hey", he said with a smile on his face.

"Hey", I replied shortly.

"Do you know that girl back there?" He looked at his bandana in the mirror and tried to fix it.

"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.

"The blonde."

"My girlfriend", I blurted out.

"You? A girl like that?" The guy chuckled. "Who would 'a known?"

I gritted my teeth. What did this guy want? "Right?" I asked weakly.

"I'm Roy", he introduced, sticking his hand out for me to shake. I cautiously gripped his hand and shook. Okay, he told me his name. What was I going to do with it unless he wanted something from me? "And I don't believe she's your girlfriend", he finished.

Well my night was shot to Hades.

I narrowed my eyes. "What makes it not believable?"

"Your stance when you said it, man", Roy said, pacing past the empty stalls. "Weak. Like you didn't mean it."

"She. Is. My. Girlfriend", I pronounced. "What don't you understand?"

"Prove it", he challenged.

"That's ridiculous."

"Hey, I didn't come here for cheap entertainment. My buddies and I want something from you two."

"What would that be?"

"A kiss."

"Excuse me?" I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

"Kiss", Roy repeated. "It's not that hard if she's your girlfriend, right?"

"We're taking it slow", I tried. I didn't want to kiss Annabeth _now! _I mean, now that I thought about kissing her daily, you know, but… um… it was our first date! And we were going as _friends _since we left. I can't just mess with her feelings.

"Dude, eventually boyfriends kiss girlfriends. If she was your girlfriend, you wouldn't have a problem with this." Roy was getting impatient. "Just kiss the damn girl already and I'll leave you alone!"

There was a huge _THUD _as I slammed him up against the wall. "What'd you just say?"

"I—I meant—" He looked like he was regretting everything he said in the first place.

"Exactly", I growled. "Never use that word in front of Annabeth's name again."

He narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. I backed up away from him, and he relaxed, still leaning against the wall.

"What do I have to prove to you, anyways?" I asked.

"If you don't kiss Annabeth, I get her for myself. I mean, she's hot."

"She wouldn't go out with a guy like you."

"We'll see about that", Roy answered, a grin spread out on his face. "'Tell her you were getting violent with me. Who wants a violent boyfriend?"

I was about to retort when I relaxed my stance and said nothing. Annabeth may never go out with a guy like him, but it doesn't mean she could still go for me. Roy was pure blackmailing.

"You don't have any proof I was being violent. Who's she going to believe? A total stranger? Or a guy she's known for three years?"

"You may be right", Roy answered. He flipped out something that was sticking out from his pocket the whole time, which I thought was a wallet. "But videos don't lie."

I stared at the flip camera. The red dot that signaled it was recording blinked mockingly at me. I stared back at Roy, a victorious smile on his face. I couldn't believe a total stranger was doing all of this just to get a girl.

I strutted out of the bathroom, Roy following swiftly behind me.

I saw Annabeth sitting alone at our table, and I felt bad about leaving her there. She turned and saw me, and a look that said, I'm-about-to-gut-you-like-a-fish came on her face. It disappeared when she saw a total stranger follow me.

"Percy? Who's this?" Annabeth asked when we were in earshot.

"Hey babe", Roy introduced. His buddies hollered.

"Hi", Annabeth said cautiously. She turned to me. "What took you so long, Seaweed Brain? You didn't even change!"

"Annabeth, I don't know if I should say sorry for this or what, but either way I hope you know I did this for you."

Before she could ask what was happening, I leaned in and gave her a kiss full on the lips.

**Before you go crazy and go kill me because of the cliffhanger, how about reviewing the chapter? ;D**

**Yes, I know this was a short chapter (short of like a little over one hundred words D: ), I want you to know I tried the best ****could to fill it up with juicy stuff to keep you satisfied with the amount of blackmailing and Percabeth. **

**I know I didn't make Annabeth get jealous of girls swooning over Percy, but I just thought this idea was awesome, and it took over me while I was writing. I hope I didn't disappoint some people! Maybe it'll happen later on… **

**Please read, and most of all review, and check out my one shot titled 'Raindrops on Roses'. I only** **got three reviews, and I was hoping for some more.**

**Thanks again,**

**Wicked : ]**


	8. Chapter 7

I couldn't really interpret my feelings into words.

I mean, kissing my best friend wasn't really on the list of things to do for the evening.

It was great, nonetheless.

I didn't see Roy's buddies' jaws hit the floor. I didn't hear the music in the restaurant stop. I didn't see Roy's face of pure disbelief. All of these things happened, but I didn't notice any of them.

Annabeth's honey hair was all up in my face, not that I minded. I smelled lemon and vanilla. The chain from her necklace was dangling uselessly in between us. I didn't know what her face looked like, because I didn't want to.

I wasn't too sure of when to stop the kiss was either, so I stopped it after fifteen seconds.

Yes, I counted. You would, too.

I broke apart from her first, obviously. Her hair was sort of a mess and her eyes were so wide I could see every speck of grey in them.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked slowly. "What exact—?"

"UGH!" Roy exploded. "Screw it all!" He ran over to his crew. "Let's go, boys!" Roy and his crew rushed out of there, hopping over tables to reach the door.

The musical entertainment and the customers looked at us. I looked at Annabeth. "Um, Annabeth, he was—I mean—"

"Percy", Annabeth said. I watched her with my heart pounding.

"It's—it's okay—just, what was—?"

Annabeth never gets to finish her incomplete sentences, because just then I tackled her with a hug. "Oh, THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING!"

"Wha—? Err—" Annabeth gave up and decided to hug me back. She was the first to break away. "What happened just there?"

"I— '''tbelieveyouandIsaidohyeah?", I said in kind of a rush.

Annabeth stared at me, her cardigan slightly off her right shoulder. "So let me get this straight— this guy Roy wanted to date me cause of my outfit. You didn't want him using me—BUT! I can take care of myself." I looked down, ashamed. She continued, "So the only way to prove I was your girlfriend was to kiss me. And here we are." I nodded slightly.

She didn't answer for a few seconds, in which my heart was pounding with tension. "That was incredibly stupid", she finally scolded. I let half my breath I was holding in out with an exhale—"But totally sweet." I exhaled all of my remaining breath. "And I have to admit", she continued, "the look on Roy's face _was _hysterical."

"So I'm not in trouble anymore?" I asked. But I should've known that with Annabeth, you are not off the hook for _anything._

"Not… really."

My heart sunk. "What?"

Annabeth tilted her head. "You don't just kiss me without my permission. And plus, Athena always has a plan for revenge." She winked at me and grabbed her purse, and threw me my man purse, which was on the table. She started for the door when I called out, "Wait! Err, can I change? I'm not really the one for tuxes."

She rolled her eyes and put her weight on one hip, and my breath caught. "Quick."

I muttered thanks and ran to the bathroom, wondering what exactly happened between us.

By the time we got out of the restaurant, we realized we were starving since we didn't eat.

Yeah, fifteen year old demigods aren't so smart.

Instead of fretting over what happened, we just acted like normal friends in NYC. We did the stuff normal kids do. We went to M&M World, walked around Times Square. We felt just like normal teenagers, and it was the best date you could've asked for. No monsters, just best friends.

Since it was around midnight, we decided to go to my apartment for the night. It was way too late to go back to Camp HB, and curfew was around two hours ago.

My mom was surprised to see us, but happy nonetheless. She gave Annabeth pajamas for the night. Annabeth thanked her and went to change.

I hung back with Mom in the kitchen. It was silent. I could hear the sound of rain beginning to patter the windows. The sound of water dripping through the faucet broke some silence. I remembered Mom telling me the faucet was broken. I thought hard, and the dripping stopped. Mom exhaled a sigh, "Thanks."

I nodded. She decided to further break the silence. "So. What are you two doing in Manhattan?" She tightened the rope around her waist from her pink robe.

"Date", I automatically answered. She smiled, and I realized what I just said, "I mean—no! It's not like that. The Aphrodite campers were sick and we had to go on a date—"

"I believe you." Silence again. "So tell me what happened on the date." Man, where was Annabeth?

"Mom", I whined. "We kissed", I muttered.

"I'm sorry, what? The rain is too loud."

"We… kissed", I said louder. Mom smiled.

"I had to. Or some other guy would get her. I don't know… love is complicated."

She nodded. "I remember when your father and I met. The beach at Montauk. He called me Princess of the Sea." She chuckled.

I heard the door to the bathroom open. Annabeth appeared in the kitchen. Her slippers made a weird noise against the thin and worn carpet. "I Iris Messaged Chiron", she said. The messy bun on her head bounced as she talked.

"Okay", I told her. "Sleep on the couch. I'll sleep with you on the floor." I led her to the living room.

"Oh, no it's okay", she tried to say. "You don't have to—"

"No, it's fine. Maybe I want to."

Annabeth's cheeks reddened along with mine. What was I saying?

"Err, here", I said, handing her a blanket and some pillows the closet supplied. "I'll go change, too."

I walked briskly out of the room, suddenly finding it hard to believe Annabeth Chase was sleeping in my living room.

"Percy… Percy, you awake?"

I lifted my head from the pillow. Truth is, I was wide awake. But I made it sound like I was asleep as to not freak her out, "Huh? Oh, yeah." I shifted to face her.

"Good." I faintly saw her features in the dark. It was around three in the morning, according to my (manly) glow in the dark Spiderman watch.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I was just thinking—about Luke. Remember how I was crying? Now, thinking back on it… it was ridiculous. Crying over him, I mean. Can't get him back anyways."

I sighed. "You don't know that."

"No, but it's true. Even my siblings tell me. They say it's dumb to care so much and cry over him if he betrayed me. They say I'm not acting like a daughter of Athena should. But I just can't help it… he was there for me, you know?" I heard her sniffle.

"Listen, Annabeth, we can do this. We're winning the war." I tried to convince her and myself. "This was Luke's choice." I tried not to sound bitter. "It's his life."

"But it wasn't his fault!" Annabeth cried. "It was never supposed to go this far."

"It was bound to", I whispered. "It's fate. This is what's supposed to happen in either side's favor. Just… let's see where this takes us, alright?"

Annabeth took some steadying breaths. "Okay." I heard her settle down.

We didn't talk after that. I wasn't sure if she fell asleep, but I knew I wasn't, despite we had the conversation or not.

**I… kind of think this is kind of, sort of crappy. I'm not having the **_**best **_**ideas right now. Err, any ideas for the next chapter? Tell me in reviews.**

**I know I haven't updated in a while, but don't worry! I was just super busy. I will try my hardest to finish this story!**

**Thanks, and REVIEW!**

**Wicked : ] **


	9. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Yo, look, it's Percy and Annabeth."

"Hey, look, they're back from their date!"

"I heard he _kissed _her."

"No, really?"

"Absolutely."

"Clarisse? Clarisse, stop making things up."

"Sorry, Annabeth."

Percy chuckled. Clarisse was Clarisse. "What would make you think we'd kiss? We're best friends!"

Clarisse shot Percy a glare. "I'm not daughter of Aphrodite, but you two are meant for each other. And who asked you, princess?" She stomped away.

Silena Beauregard passed the two friends as they crossed the border. "How was your date?" she asked calmly. No coughing. No sniffing. No sneezing. Camp was (somewhat) back to normal.

"Oh, it was great", Annabeth answered. "Real fun."

"Then may I ask why you didn't eat dinner and went straight to M&M World?" the daughter of Aphrodite asked, a light smirk on her face.

"You little spy", Percy scolded, but he, too, had a smile on his face.

"You're such a bad girl", Annabeth laughed.

"I have my ways", Silena answered, and began a small tinkle of laughter. "A daughter of Aphrodite always has her ways."

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other with a knowing smile on their face. Sure, they lied to the camp. Sure, they had a huge war coming up. Sure, their lives were on the line.

At least they knew each other's feelings.

Somewhat.

**OMG. THE END. HOW WAS THAT?**

**YES, I KNOW, short story. That's just the way I roll ;)**

**Hehe, I'll put a oneshot up here soon, most likely. I can't leave you guys without more from your favorite author ;D**

**Please review and add to your favorites! Thanks for sticking with me and expect more of Percy Jackson,**

**Wicked`456 : ]**


	10. EXTRA! Annabeth's Revenge

**Extra Scene: Annabeth's Revenge**

"Annabeth, can I ask you your opinion on this shirt?"

"Yeah… go ahead."

"…Does it make my abs look like jello?"

"Ugh, Percy, we've gone over this a million times. You don't have abs."

"Yes I do! They're right here—and here." Percy Jackson creased over the lines marking his abs with his finger. "See?"

"Yeah, Percy, now pull your shirt down."

Percy wore a goofy smile on his face, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile back. If only he would forgive her for what was about to come—

"Hey, Percy?"

"Yeah, Annie?" A light smirk. A sound of knuckles hitting flesh.

"Ow", Percy feigned.

"Shuttup. As I was saying, do you have any home videos?"

Percy crinkled his eyebrows together and leaned back against the wood of Cabin Three. "Home videos? Like what?"

"I don't know, like your first day of school, or a happy childhood memory. Something like that." Annabeth grinned widely where Percy couldn't see.

"Hmm…" Percy wondered. "I probably do. Why?"

"It's just… if we're dating, it would be cute to see each other when we were little…" Annabeth cringed, hoping it was strong enough a façade for him to believe… then she lightened up. It was Percy. She knew him better than anything.

"Oh, like a quality time sort of thing? I'm in!" Annabeth smiled deviously. "Good! Oh, and make sure there are some pictures, too. I want to know everything about your childhood life…"

-SOMETIME LATER IN THE WEEK…-

"Paul? Paul, get the popcorn this one's good!"

"Sally, I'm coming." Paul Blofis(h) walked warily to the living space of Percy's apartment, giant popcorn bowl in hand. "Which one is this?"

"Percy's first words! Oh, how precious!"

Percy cringed from his seat on the sofa. "Mom, I wasn't that cute."

"Honey, you were adorable!" Annabeth snuggled deeper into Percy's arms. "Sally, get out the photo albums!" she called.

"Oh! Oh, dear, you're right!" Sally rushed to get the many albums.

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Anxious much?" Annabeth smiled. "I just think you were adorable!"

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Next, it's your videos we're watching."

Annabeth smirked. 5, 4, 3, 2… 1.

"Does anyone smell something burning?" Paul asked, his senses hyped.

"No…" Percy trailed off. He sniffed. "…Yeah. Whatever it is, I'll put it out!" Percy jumped up and ran to the kitchen before the fire alarm went off and the whole apartment building went nuts.

This was her chance. Annabeth nonchalantly raced to the bathroom. She knew there were some pictures Percy had hidden from her. He'd been silly enough to even tell her their whereabouts. The bathroom cabinet, squeezed between the wall and the wood, right next to the emergency kit if you opened the cabinet wide. Annabeth reached in with some pliers she often carried around in her pocket (just in case) and snatched them right out from in between.

She hurried back, but stopped at the kitchen. "Everything okay?" she asked. "I was going to get the emergency kit if anyone was hurt…"

Percy smiled. "No one's getting hurt on my watch." He held up a batch of slightly burned blue cookies. "Kind of burnt. But no big deal. Wasn't a fire or anything. And hey", he popped one in his mouth, "they're still edible."

Annabeth chuckled in relief. "You're crazy."

"If something's blue, the situation is never crazy. Remember that, my dear."

They walked hand in hand to the living area, and were greeted with a year old Percy Jackson.

Annabeth smiled and checked the photos in her pocket.

Yep, still there.

The pictures of Perseus Jackson. Scared. Scared of the bath tub.

-BACK AT CAMP THE NEXT DAY-

Percy Jackson walked from the sword arena to the showers, blue water bottle in hand. He had just gotten back from a long day sword fighting with the Ares cabin and playing with Mrs. O' Leary. Despite his usual happy and carefree mood he has when he returns from the arena, there was something slightly… off.

There was something odd going on around camp.

This, usually, was an understatement of the usual camp life. Nonetheless, something was on the down low, and it looked as if 'the down low' wanted to stay away from Percy at all costs.

An Apollo camper whispered to her friend, who giggled as her eyes followed Percy as he walked by. Eyebrows crinkled, he carried on. A Hermes boy pretending he was splashing around—in what, Percy didn't know. A Demeter girl gave a little dance when he walked by, and just burst out with laughter.

Finally someone, an Ares camper with enough sense to just go up to Percy and tell him what was happening, did. "Nice photos, Jackson."

"Photos?"

"Yeah, of you. Scared. Of water. Who would'a thought?"

Percy had a look of confusion on his face, then understanding. Photos. Of him. When he was three. Scared. Of the bath tub. The photos flashed by in his head. He thought he would explore the water by placing his hands in it, slapping it around, and doing a little embarrassing dance. The second, his mother trying to get him in the tub. He remembered it now, his mother was trying to teach him the basics of water in his little swimsuit. How if he were to touch it, it would move. How if he put it in a bag, it would take the shape of it. But he was afraid of it.

And the third picture, him falling in the tub. With a crazy expression on his face, Percy wasn't sure if he was even sane when it was taken on accident.

Percy should've known that his mother would never make the mistake of burning cookies, and he mentally slapped himself. Annabeth knew no one would get hurt. She wasn't looking for the first aid emergency kit. It was the pictures.

His eyes wandered over to the Athena cabin. The sea green eyes met the grey ones, and when her face protruded a light smirk, he knew she had gotten him back for that little kiss.

And despite all the embarrassing stares and glances, he kind of liked it.

**ZOMG FOR THE EXTRA SCENE. I figured since you guys are so amazing at giving me the chance to have my work up on her actually read, you deserved the little extra scene.**

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I couldn't have done it without you guys. You rock. I can't wait till I get around to posting more, and hopefully you read those, too.**

**Also, I have three other oneshots. One is labeled 'Frenemies', it's about Percy and Luke discussing Kronos in the Underworld. It's no slash.**

**The second and the first story I ever put on Fanfiction is titled 'Raindrops on Roses', it's a Bianca and Nico family kind of thing. A Nico and Bianca drabble on her death. No slash.**

**The most recent one is called 'The Son of Neptune Annabeth: My Own Little Hell'. It's a oneshot about Annabeth, Leo, Jason, and Piper arriving at the Roman camp, and meeting Percy. Oneshot, most likely will not be made into a story.**

**Please check those out, I would be so grateful.**

**ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND REVIEWS, AND THOSE WHO FAVORITED/SUBSCRIBED. **

**Thanks bunches,**

**Wicked : ]**


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